April 17 (Reuters) - Mobile app marketing firm Liftoff filed for a U.S. initial public offering on Friday, moving the Blackstone-backed company closer to the public markets amid improving sentiment around a broader rebound in listings.
The Redwood City, California-based company had earlier withdrawn and refiled confidentially for an IPO in February after market volatility and a selloff in software stocks dented investor appetite for new listings.
That selloff was driven in part by concerns that rapidly
advancing generative AI tools could disrupt traditional software business models, prompting several companies, including Liftoff, to delay or rethink their listing plans.
The company had aimed to raise up to $762 million at a valuation of about $5.17 billion in the earlier offering.
Private equity firms are expected to step up dealmaking activity in 2026 as exits remain slow and holding periods extend, increasing pressure to return capital to investors, with Blackstone preparing one of its largest IPO pipelines in recent years.
Blackstone President Jon Gray said in January the large IPO pipeline for 2026 would be concentrated in the corporate space, with most of the activity in the United States.
Liftoff was formed after Blackstone combined its portfolio companies Liftoff and Vungle in 2021, and the buyout firm later sold a minority stake to General Atlantic while retaining majority ownership.
It provides an AI-enabled platform that helps mobile app developers acquire users and monetize their applications, reaching roughly 1.4 billion daily active users globally.
It reported a net loss of $23.1 million on revenue of $685.7 million for the year ended December 2025, compared with a loss of $48.2 million on revenue of $519.3 million a year earlier.
A pickup in listings also comes as easing tensions in the Iran conflict lift global risk appetite, with equity markets rallying sharply and benchmark indexes hitting record highs, prompting investors to return to primary markets and back new technology listings.
Liftoff will list on the Nasdaq under the symbol "LFTO".
Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley are the joint lead book-running managers.
(Reporting by Atharva Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai and Maju Samuel)
